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Pricing help?

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Charlotte Andrews

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Posted
Hi. I am new here and I need some help with pricing - sorry if it's not the sort of thing I should be asking here. I have been asked to do a mural at a local business. They are supplying paint and brushes and would like me to do an hourly rate for them. I have never done anything like this before so I have no idea what to charge. They have had work done by other artists before. I don't want to overcharge as I don't have the experience the other artists had, but at the same time I don't want to be too cheap, then have them overload me with work because they know they are getting a good deal. Everything I see on the internet is charging per square metre/foot and including their paint costs, nothing is hourly. Thank you in advance for any help :)

Peter Davison

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Posted
The few commissions I have had have been for framed paintings not murals but I have always thought a price quoted in advance to a specification (materials, framing etc.) was the way to go. An hourly rate leaves open arguments about the rate of progress, hours expended etc. However to quote the advance fixed price you would need to assess the likely time input, plus a contingency, and take the risk on any overrun. Not much help really!

Alan Bickley

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Posted
I agree with Peter, this is a tricky one, I would also quote for the complete work, any other way would be insane and I feel sure that they would understand that situation. However, as a pricing guide, my BMW garage charges me £120 an hour + VAT just to service my car, I consider my skills to be on at least an equal footing, albeit in a completely different field, so that would have to be my price without the VAT. Could be an expensive mural but a good pay day...Good luck.

Edited
by alanbickley